Experimental Cookery 2021: Greek Salad

Paired with the chicken in the previous post, I put together a Greek salad, also from "Outdoor Cooking". This was slightly different from the ones I've prepared before, which come from "Jamie's Fifteen Minute Meals", though the principle is much the same.

It was quick and easy to prepare, of course - cut up some fruit and veg, dress them quickly, and add the cheese.

It was also very nice, and a great accompaniment to the chicken. This is a very good thing, as one issue with BBQs is that they tend to be extremely meat-heavy, and it's good to have some veg-based sides that are actually worth the eating.

I'm reasonably sure this has now become my method of choice for the Greek Salad - there is very little between it and Jamie's version in terms of effort, but this is a little nicer, I think.

Experimental Cookery 2021: Herby Lemon Chicken Thighs

Chicken is one of those things that I've never dared to cook on the BBQ - because of the need to make sure it is thoroughly cooked through, coupled with the tendency for the BBQ to burn the outside while leaving the inside raw, it's just not something I've risked. And yet, it's such a classic, and something I've quite fancied giving a go.

This Experimental Cookery comes from Tom Kerridge's "Outdoor Cooking", a book which is rapidly becoming a favourite. It's dead easy - create a quick marinade for the chicken, and then stick it on the grill for a while. I did make the mistake of using bone-in rather than boneless chicken, which meant a much longer cooking time, but that was fine.

Ironically, it's probably the safest thing I've ever cooked on th BBQ, on account of using an actual meat thermometer to determine when it was cooked. Which is probably just as well, as there was no physical difference between when I thought it was cooked and when it was actually cooked.

The end result was excellent - we thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, there was too much chicken for two of us, and it just wasn't as good for lunch the next day. But those are quibbles - we'll definitely have this again.

#36: "The Mists of Avalon", by Marion Zimmer Bradley (a book from The List - eleven to go)
#37: "The Massacre of Mankind", by Stephen Baxter

The Irregulars

This was a series that very much intrigued me when I first saw sight of it, but that LC and I have just gotten around to watching recently. In the meantime, the series was cancelled.

Some very quick thoughts:

• It's worth watching, in my opinion, though I can see why others may feel otherwise. Also, it's worth noting that the first episode takes a ridiculously long time to get going - that by itself may be why it was cancelled.
• Don't look for anything remotely faithful to history, the Sherlock Holmes stories, or anythink like that. This is mostly "Beatrice the Vampire Slayer", set in Victorian times. There is one episode, and a few other flashbacks that show us Holmes and Watson doing their thing in happier times, and that's actually a highlight of the show, but it is not the point of the show.
• The show practices colourblind casting, which is mostly a good thing, with one exception. That exception is pretty jarring, but it is also minor enough to ignore.
• Perhaps more unfortunate is that this show indulges in my new least-favourite trope: the 21st century feminist transplanted to a historical setting. As noted, the whole environment isn't remotely faithful to history, so I'll give it a pass here, but there's another rant brewing.
• I can entirely understand why this was cancelled. Truth be told, we'd probably not bother with a second series even if they had produced one.

And that's more or less that. If a Victorian "Beatrice the Vampire Slayer" sounds attractive, give it a watch, and do try to gut it out through those first 25 minutes or so. But otherwise, give it a pass.

The Sharpe Cycle

For the past several years, Bernard Cornwell has been one of my favourite authors, and over that time I've read almost everything he has written (which is a lot). However, until last year I'd mostly stayed away from the Sharpe novels, as the few I'd read had felt rather too close to the TV series, which is good for TV but not so good for the books.

However, having run rather short of things to read, I decided that the time had come to read Sharpe, and so I did. And now I've finished the cycle, just in time for a new book in the series to be published.

It has been an interesting experience, largely because so many of the books are so close to the TV series, and the rest feel very much like they could have come from it. In terms of quality they're really good, though not quite uniformly so - at their best they can be exceptional, at worst they are reasonably enjoyable. I probably enjoyed the final book I read, "Sharpe's Prey", the most, and I didn't really care too much for "Sharpe's Fortress". I don't really know why that might be.

In terms of reading order, I started with "Sharpe's Rifles", the revised starting point of the series (written to tie in with the first episode of the TV series), then proceeded mostly in chronological order (skipping three books I had read some years ago). After getting to the end I skipped back to the five prequel novels Cornwell had written. I don't think I would recommend that order - in hindsight, "Sharpe's Tiger" is probably the place to start.

But I have no complaints. All in all, this was a great series, and stands as a nice companion piece to O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series - they're very different, of course, but deal with two branches of the armed forces in the same, or mostly the same, time frame.

The Paw Patrol Movie

Funsize has a reward jar, in which she collects stars. Having colleced 20 stars, she gets a special treat, and last week she completed her second 20. (In fairness, she should probably be much further advanced. The big problem with this system is that is depends on us remembering to give her stars.) Her special treat, therefore, was to go to see the "Paw Patrol" movie with me on Saturday.

Well... it's a really big toy commercial. The story is pretty basic, making sure to tick all the required boxes. (Humdinger causes problems, the Paw Patrol rush to the aid, one of them has a crisis of confidence but works through it, and they have a mega-happy ending. Also, there's a Kardashian.) But the main thing is that they all get a load of new gear, and there's a few new characters, and so of course there are going to be toys. And apparel, and endless other branded items.

It was all done well enough, I guess. I enjoyed it more than "The Rise of Skywalker", though that isn't saying a great deal. And Funsize loved it.

And that's pretty much that.

Backlog

I've been away for a while, and have been very busy for a while. But I've built up quie a backlog of topics, so hopefully now that I'm back I'll be able to get caught up. We'll see...

#34: "The Witcher: Tower of the Swallow", by Andrzej Sapkowski
#35: "Sharpe's Prey", by Bernard Cornwell

Experimental Cookery 2021: Satay Kebabs (Chicken)

One of LC's favourites from the takeaway is chicken satay, but unfortunately our experiences with this one have been rather hit and miss. Fortunately, though, I found this recipe in the "Hairy Bikers' Asian Adventure", and so put it to good use.

This is a fairly quick and simple meal, with one small wrinkle in that the meat needs to be marinaded, preferably overnight. That means that it does require a little planning, though it means there are two simple preparations rather than just one. (The other big thing to recommend about this one is that the book gives several options - beef, pork, and prawns as well as chicken. Which is really great.)

My initial thought when cooking this was to use the BBQ for the chicken. In the event I decided against this, but in hindsight I was right first time. Cooking the chicken skewers on the griddle proved to be slightly more awkward than I had expected and hoped - it worked fine, but the BBQ would just have been better.

Preparing the sauce was simple - put everything in a pan and simmer for a bit.

The end result was great. Nice and tasty, with a good but not excessive amount of kick in both the chicken and the sauce.

All in all, this was a really great meal, and stands to become a new favourite - which actually makes two in the space of a week!